Clip punch



Dec. 20, 1960. R. H. SPENGLER ETAL 2,964,829

CLIP PUNCH Filed May 14, 1956 ROBERT A. s ls-N54 ER C 7-50 /-7 5/904u/vo United States Patent CLIP PUNCH Robert H. Spengler and Ted F.Brolund,.Rockford, Ill., assignors to W. A. Whitney Mfg. Co., Rockford,111., a corporationof Illinois Filed May 14, 1956, Ser. No. 584,790 3Claims. (Cl. 29 -211) This invention relates to punches for use in sheetmetal work where two or more abutting flanges or an interfitting flangeand channel require fastening together, and

is moreparticularly concerned with an improved clip punch designed notonly to punch out from the twoparts atongue of metal substantially atright angles, as was done'with previous clip punches, but also in thesame stroke of the lever bend this tongue over and clinch it downtightly, so that an extra hammering operation, otherwise'required, iseliminatedand a lot of time saved and a better and more uniform jobperformed.

In the clip punch of ourinvention we provide one reciprocable punchmember to punch out the tongue in the first portion of the movement ofthe lever, and a second reciprocable punch member operated by the samelever in the rest of its stroke to bend the projecting tongueover andclinch it down, thereby eliminating the extra operation that the workmanhad to do with a hammer or other tool in a more orless makeshift fashionwhen previous clip punches were used.

The invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1is a side view of'a clip punch madein accordance with our invention, aportion of the lower jaw being shown in section to better illustrate theconstrue ltion and also permit showing in dotted lines. the tongue outby the upper punch, the latter being shown at the end of its down-strokewith the tongue in readiness for the clinching operation that isperformed by the lower punch;

Fig. 2' is a view similar to Fig. lshowing the lower punch at the end ofits up-stroke, clinching the tongue after having bent it over; 1

Figs. 3 and 4 are two perspective views of two interfitting sheet metalpieces showing in Fig. 3 the projecting tongue and in Fig. 4 how thistongue appears when bent over and clinched down, and

Fig. 5 is anend view of Fig. 1.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding partsthroughout the views.

Referring to the drawing, the upper punch element, which is D-shaped incross-section, is designated by the reference numeral 6, and the lowerpunch element by the reference numeral 7. The upper element 6, as willsoon appear, cuts and bends out the D-shaped tongue 8 from the rib 9defined by the interfitting flange and channel portions of two pieces 10and 11 of sheet metal, and punch 7 bends the tongue 8 over and clinchesit down flat, as illustrated at 12 in Fig. 4, all in one stroke of thelever 13.

Insofar as the operation of the upper punch element 6 I is concerned,the punch designated generally by the reference numeral 14 followsgenerally the construction dis closed in Spengler Patent No. 1,510,451and comprises a head 15 having formed integrally therewith upper andlower jaws 16 and 17, respectively, and a handle 18. The lower jaw 17carries an anvil or die 19 having a vertical D-shaped bore 20 in whichthe upper punch element '6 operates, the one side of the borecorresponding 2,964,829 Patented Dec. 20, 1960 to the straightside ofthe D being cut away, as indicated at 21, so that the punch element 6cuts and bends out-a D-shaped tongue, bending it substantially at rightangles to the rib 9, as at 8 in Fig. 3. The die 19 also has a transversebore 22 provided thereinjust'below the-range of operation of the upperpunch 6 in bore 20, and the lower punch 7 is reciprocable in bore 22and, when it is extended, as shown in Fig. 2, through the cut-away side21 of bore 20. it bends the tongue 8 over and clinches it down, as shownat 12 in Fig. 4. In this movement, the punch 7 extends through acut-away portion 23 provided on the upper front portion'of the lower jawl7 inregistelr withthe cut-away portion 21 of die 19. The die 19 isreceived in a bore 24 provided therefor in the lower jaw 17 and issecured in place by means of a cross-pin 25 that has a press fit inregistering holes provided therefor in the jaw 17 and die 19.

In line with the dis-closure of Spengler Patent No. 1,510,451, the punch14 has an arm 26 pivoted at one end, as at 27, on the upper jaw 16, andprovided with a T-slot 28 in the other end slidably receiving theT-shaped upper end portion-29 of the upper punch element 6. An car 30 onthe top of the forward end of arm 26 isvpivotally connected, as at 31,to the end portion of the lever 13, which in turn is pivotally mounted,as at 32, between the upper ends of a pair of plates 33 whose lower endsare pivotally connected to the head 15, as. at 34. Thus, pivotalmovement of the lever 13 downwardly from the dotted line positionindicated in Fig. 1 to the full line position gives the upper punchelement 6 its down-stroke, and inasmuch as the pivot 31 at the end ofthe down-stroke is so near a dead-center with respect to pivots 32 and34 the punch element 6 will not be given any further perceptibledownward movement in the further small downward swing of lever 13required to operate the punch element 7, as shown in Fig. 2. When thelever 13 is returned to the raised fully retracted position indicated indot-ted lines in Fig. l the upper punch element 6 is fully retracted andthe work indicated in dotted lines at 9 in Figs." 1 and 2 is free andcan be removed or shifted to a new position for the next operation or anew piece can be inserted. In Spengler Patent No. 1,510,451 a flat leafspring is shown on head 15 under the arm 26 to assist in retracting theupper punch element 6, and such a leaf spring may be mounted on the flattop surface 35 of head .15 if. desired. An adjustable stop 36 isslidable in a horizontal guideway 37 on one side of the head 15 and hasa right angle end portion 38 for locating abutment with the work 9 in apredetermined spaced relationship to the punch element 6. A set screw 39threaded in a hole in the side of the head 15 extends through alongitudinal slot 40 provided in the stop 36 and when tightened servesto clamp the stop in adjusted position. In that way the tongue 8 can bepunched out of the rib 9 just far enough from the plane of the walls 10and 11 to allow room enough for the tongue to be bent over and clincheddown, as shown at 12 in Fig. 4.

The lower punch element 7 is slidably pivotally connected at its forkedouter end, as at 41, to the front end of a bell-crank lever 42 which hasa working fit in a vertical slot 43 provided on a downwardly projectiongportion 44 on the bottom of the head 15 and is pivoted intermediate itsends in the portion 44, as indicated at 45. A coiled tension spring 46connects the rear end of the lever 42 with the bottom of the handle 18and serves normally to hold the lever 42 in the raised retractedposition of Fig. 1 holding the lower punch element 7 retracted. However,the lever 42 is arranged to be swung downwardly against the resistanceof the spring 46 to move the lower punch element 7 forwardly to bend thetongue 8 over and clinch it against the rib 9, as shown at 12 in Fig. 4.This occurs in the last-portion'of the downward stroke of the lever 13from the position of Fig. 1 to that of Fig. 2, this move ment beingobtained by the engagement of lever 13.with

-a roller 47 mounted between the upper endsof a pair 'of plates 48disposed onopposite sides of handle 18 and having their lower endspivotally connected to the rear end pin 50, and, as seen in Fig. 2,always remain inclined toward said pin. In the last portion of downwardmovement of the lever 13, the lower punch element 7 is moved forwardlywith appreciable mechanical advantage to attend to clinching the tongue8, as at 12 in Fig. 4, with very little effort on the operators part.When the lever 13 is returned to the dotted line position shown in Fig.1 the spring 46 returns the parts associated with lower punch element 7to the position shown in Fig. 1 before the upper punch element 6 isretracted.

In operation, the work is placed in the punch in abutment with stop 38,as seen in dotted lines at 9. The lever 13 is swung down from the dottedline position of Fig. l and first operates punch element 6, as shown inFig. l, to cut the tongue 8 and bend it down at right angles to rib 9.In the further downward movement of lever 13, while punch 6 is on whatamounts to a dwell and its annular shoulder 52 is holding the worktightly clamped on anvil 53, punch 7 is operated, as seen in Fig. 2, toclinch the tongue firmly, as shown at 12 in Fig.4. The lever 13 strikesthe handle 18 at the end of the operation thereby signalling to theoperator when it is time to return the lever 13 to the starting positionfor the next operation. This also prevents any likelihood of the workbeing damaged by moving the lower punch element 7 too far, and itinsures close uniformity in the clinching of all of the tongues. Theoperation takes very little time and the resulting job is far superiorto what was obtainable with prior clip punches where the projectingtongues had to be hammered down.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of our invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

We claim:

l. A punch of the character described comprising a head providing upperand lower spaced jaw portions and having a handle extending therefromrearwardly with respect to said jaw portions, a punch element slidableendwise in the upper jaw into a bore provided in a die in the lower jaw,the bore being open on the front whereby said punch element is adaptedto cut a tongue for clip purposes from a piece of work inserted betweenthe jaws and bend the tongue substantially at right angles to the workinto the open front of the bore, a lever pivoted with respect to saidhead and operatively connected with said punch element to reciprocatethe same and swingable in the vertical plane of said head and handle andtoward the latter in the down-stroke of said punch element, anotherpunch element reciprocable endwise in a fore and aft direction in thelower jaw in transverse relation to and forwardly past the lower end ofthe first mentioned punch element into the open front of said bore atthe end of the downstroke of the first mentioned punch element, wherebyto bend the tongue through another 90 so that it lies fiat against theunderside of the work, a bell-crank lever pivoted intermediate its endson the bottom of the lower jaw'and operatively connected at one end tothe last mentioned punch element, means operatively connected with theother end'of said bell-crank lever and extending upwardly therefrom andguided on the handle for reciprocatory movement by means of said leverin the last portion of its operating movement toward said handle, andspring means normally urging the last mentioned punch element to aretracted position, the next to the last mentioned means comprising apair of plates disposed on opposite sides of the handle pivotallyconnected at their lower ends to the bell-crank lever on opposite sidesthereof and having an abutment for said lever extending between theupper ends thereof above said handle.

2. A- punch of the character described comprising a head providing upperand lower spaced jaw portions and having a handle extending therefromrearwardly with respect to said jaw portions, a punch element slidableendwise in'the upper jaw into a bore provided in a .die in the lowerjaw, the bore being open on the front whereby said punch element isadapted to cut a tongue for clip purposes from a piece of work insertedbetween the jaws and bend the tongue substantially at right angles tothe work into the open front of the bore, a lever pivoted with respectto said head and operatively connected with said punch-element toreciprocate the same and swingable in the vertical plane of said headand handle and toward the latter in the down-stroke of said punchelement, another punch element reciprocable endwise in a fore and aftdirection in the lower jaw in transverse relation to and forwardly pastthe lower end of the first mentioned punch element into the open frontof said bore at the end of the downstroke of the first mentioned punchelement, whereby to bend the tongue through another sothat it lies fiatagainst the underside of the work, a bell-crank lever pivotedintermediate its ends on the bottom ofthe lower jaw and operativelyconnected at one end to the last rnentionedpunch element, -rneansoperatively connected with the other end of said bell-crank lever andextending upwardly therefrom and guided on the handle for reciprocatorymovement by means of said lever in the last portion of its operatingmovement toward said handle, and spring means normally urging the lastmentioned punch element to a retracted position, the next to the lastmentioned means comprising a pair of plates disposed on opposite sidesof the handle pivotally connected at their lower ends to the bell-cranklever on opposite sides thereof and having an abutment for said leverextending between the upper ends thereof above said handle, said platesbeing oscillatable with respect to said bell-crank lever through apredetermined angularity determined by guide projections on said handle.

3. A punch of the character described comprising a head providing spacedfirst and second jaw portions adapted to receive work therebetween to bepunched, a punch element slidable endwise in the first jaw into a boreprovided in a die in the second jaw, a lever pivoted with respect tosaid head and operatively connected-1by;tpgg1e means with said punchelement to move itonj t's Working stroke by movement toward a deadcentef position of said toggle means, another punch element'recipro'ableendwise in the second jaw crosswise relative to the first punch element,and means operable by said leve'f'when. l the toggle means is close todead center position for oper-v ating the last mentioned punch elementon its working stroke.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

